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Procrastination

As mentioned in my February update, I can’t say that I’ve been doing my utmost with my job hunting and I guess that as well as enjoying my free time too much, I’ve been suffering badly from procrastination.

I even borrowed a book from the library to help me focus but I haven’t gotten round to reading it yet…ahem!

What have I been doing instead of job hunting?

Sleep – Upon my return from my hols, the last two weeks of January were spent sleeping a lot as I was initially jet-lagged and then poorly with a virus.

Binge watching TV – I’ve been watching stuff like ‘The Man in the High Castle’, ‘Blacklist’ and ‘Homeland’. No daytime TV – I’d not stoop that low!

Reading blogs/tweets – I didn’t read any blogs while I was away so caught up on my reading. I also culled my Twitter feed to a more manageable level – following too many is just distracting and tweets that I may actually want to read end up getting lost in the noise/spam.

Practising my ukulele – Still getting used to the simple chords but I can ‘play’ a couple of tunes now. A great way to relax, though I need to learn how to ‘sing’ AND play at the same time – note sing in inverted commas as I can’t hold a proper tune!

Painting and decorating – I’ve been glossing the doors in the house, but got bored after a few so still have more to do at some point.

Matched betting (MB) – I started to do a bit of horse racing MB during the day, to help boost my profits. I still very much prefer MB on football but thought I’d see if I could tap into the much-touted riches of the Cheltenham Festival which are taking place this week.

Bird watching – It’s not very often that I get to sit around and enjoy the wildlife/birds in my garden. The grey squirrels have been keeping me entertained with their antics and with winter over, a variety of birds have returned to the garden. However, I never expected to see a hapless pigeon being caught and plucked alive by a sparrowhawk…I’d seen a mass of feathers on my lawn previously but had thought it was the work of the neighbours’ cats!

Hunter looks smaller than the prey and yes, those bits scattered about are feathers!

I’m glad that I haven’t resorted to playing games on my PC or tablet as I would end up losing hours/days. As a former gamer, I can’t say that the thought hasn’t crossed my mind, however. The only game I have going is Pokemon Go, which really only means that I park a little further away from the supermarket so I can do an extra bit of walking (to ‘hatch’ eggs and ‘catch’ Pokemon!).

I’ve been maintaining a routine of sorts, so still attend my gym classes and work out, plus of course, I’m now playing netball too. I’ve continued to wake up to my alarm as if I’m going to work every day and going to bed at my usual time. This way, my weekends remain different and are something to look forward to, ie drinking and having lie ins! 😉

A Little Progress

Anyway, since I started drafting this post just over a week or so ago, I ramped up my job hunting efforts and I have had two job interviews – just goes to show what a little effort can achieve, I guess. I hope I make it through to the next stages of interviews but realistically acknowledge that nothing is guaranteed (even though I thought the interviews went quite well) and that I could well be job hunting for a while yet.

Just need to make sure that I don’t fall back into a routine of procrastination!

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23 thoughts on “Procrastination”

Thanks for the update weenie and good luck with your job interviews – sounds promising. The sparrowhawk in action is quite a spectacle – well done getting the pic.

Like you, I am becoming quite good at putting thing off – particularly my growing list of diy project around the house – painting, pointing, clearing gutters, garden, replace a door, sanding wooden floors….but I always think of the Mark Twain words ‘never put off until tomorrow that which can be done just as well the day after tomorrow’.

For what it is worth, a hard won lesson I’ve recently learned is to make sure the next gig is the right one, rather than just the first one to come along.

After a bit of time off it can be super tempting to leap back into any paying gig (if only to have a reason to get out of your pyjamas!).

So my top tip of the month is make sure the employer/client deserves you, and that the job (as much as you can assess from the interview process and a job description and will inevitably not survive your first day in the saddle) genuinely floats your boat.

If it doesn’t, or you have any alarm bells ringing about the specific role/company/boss (as opposed to that general sinking feeling about the prospect of getting suited up and commuting again), then do yourself a favour and keep looking.Slow Dad recently posted…Financial Independence is only the beginning

I’m still being quite selective with the jobs I’m applying for. Although it’s good to have interview experience, I don’t want to go for loads of them for jobs I’m not really interested or companies I don’t want to work for. Of the two interviews I’ve had, one of them is one that I would really like to get as it appears to have potential career-wise. As per my reply to Mrs ETT’s comment, I have a second interview with these guys so I hope to find out more about the job/company, the culture etc. I already know it’s not going to be corporate and that could make a refreshing change. Or not!

It’s funny, when I thought I was retired for a year I still looked forward to the weekend! I felt it was because I didn’t feel the pressure of thinking “I should be working, or job hunting” on a Saturday and a Sunday.

Problem is we only got 24 hours in a day. Sleep and food and exercise should be in most of our routine and cover up almost half of our time and work covers majority of the other half. Supposed to revise for work related exams, plan courses etc. Then there is the rest which we procrastinate on.

For me is surfing net, reading blogs, read books, watching videos online (replaces the TV generation). Supposed mini projects with writing and photography needs effort as well. If only we can do everything all at once. Too much to do and so little time!

And ever so important, some self reflection time which writing helps with because you can continue ‘doing doing doing’ but without stopping and reflecting of what you are doing, you are missing out on why it’s important.

Writing the blog definitely does help – in the same way that posting up my goals makes me accountable, sharing details about my employment status makes me reflect on what I’m doing (or not doing).

I do always think there are too many things to do/see/try and not enough hours in the day. I’m fortunate that I generally only sleep 6-6.5 hours a day. Take away the 7.5-8 hours for work and I have 10 hours to do what I want and even that doesn’t seem to be enough! I look forward to when it is the full 18 hours I have free when I don’t have to worry about working!

Good luck for the job interviews – am sure you will ace them, if you want them 🙂 As others above said (in particular slow dad) – go for the job you want and will do the most for you, not the first that comes along!

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This blog documents and tracks my own personal savings, investments and goals, based on Excel spreadsheets which I cobbled together without any professional financial advice nor with any real financial expertise, bar what I've learnt from the internet and newspapers.
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